Range test: cold costs electric cars kilometers
MINUS 25 PERCENT TCS and the Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) conducted a range test with electric cars this winter and compared the results with the findings from the same test last summer.
As expected, not a single car achieved the standard range specified by the manufacturer in winter, as heating and other cold effects cost additional energy. The ranges of the cars were well below the WLTP laboratory values at temperatures below freezing and partly snow-covered roads.
Range are still sufficient
The range test conducted together with the NAF automobile club is a good complement to the WLTP values, the emissions measurements in TCS driving tests and the values from the Green NCAP program. While the test conducted last summer showed average ranges five percent lower than the standard values, the ranges achieved on the same route in winter conditions were around 25 percent lower than the WLTP values.
This loss is due to the fact that part of the battery charge is used for heating the vehicle. Low temperatures also lead to increased resistances and limit the electrochemical processes in the battery. However, the ranges are well above the average daily driving distance even in cold conditions and show that travel with electric cars is perfectly possible even in winter.
Models of well-known brands compared
Twenty-eight electric cars were used for the test. In addition to Tesla from the USA, the Europeans Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, Škoda and Renault, the South Koreans Kia and Hyundai and the Japanese Toyota and Nissan, the Chinese manufacturers Nio, BYD, Voyah, Maxus, MG, Hongqi and JAC, which are already available in the pilot market Norway, were also represented. Norway is considered a pioneer in electromobility due to the high proportion of electric vehicles in new cars and in the vehicle population.
In the test, the Tesla Model S Dual Motor with a battery capacity of 95 kWh and a real range of 530 kilometers performed best. It was followed by the Tesla Model X Plaid and the BMW i4 eDrive40. The bottom five in the test managed around 300 kilometers. The Tesla Model Y also won in terms of consumption with 16.6 kWh per 100 kilometers. The ranking of the ratio between the achieved range and the new price, on the other hand, is led by Chinese vehicles.
